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Friday, January 31, 2014

Well I worked on it all morning and I won't go into how many different iterations of chain and bead combos I played with, but I finished the new choker. If it wasn't for this old mannequin that my brother "loaned" me years ago, making the chains on theses sort of piece would be nearly impossible. The problem is always making them lay well on a person, so if I make the chains flat on the table, they always fail at draping, at least on the first try. Of course you probably don't care one bit about all that nonsense. The point is, the necklace is done and hopefully I'll manage to get it listed some time today. I can already tell I'm going to have pricing issues though. This one was a whole lot of work to make.

Unfortunately I just got a message this morning that a package I sent to the Ukraine at the beginning of the month has yet to arrive. It is the first I've sent to that exact country so I have no precedent for how long it should take. The fear is that it is missing, though since there is no tracking to that country I can't be sure of that either. So the plan will be to wait the full 45 days before I can file an insurance claim and send another if it still hasn't arrived. This means I have to make up some barefoot sandals to have ready just in case. I hate lost packages, but it is the price of relying on other services to do business.

I also got an order last night for a custom pair of ankle corsets, so it looks like I'll be making one, then the other. That should make for a busy couple of days at least. I'm going to go ahead and cross my fingers that the 'lost' package arrives though, because that would just be better for everyone.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Before I got to tatting yesterday, I played with the prototype a bit. My idea was to use metal chains in between the motifs to tie the piece together a bit better. The idea went over fairly well on on the Facebook page, but I kept having to remind people that this was a prototype and not the final color, nor are those the final chains. It's actually some cheap chain I bought at Michaels that I use specifically for prototyping. So I kept getting the, 'it would look better with (insert color of thread or chain here)'. I love the instant feedback people give over there, but sometimes I have to hold my tongue when folks don't read what has already been asked and answered repeatedly.

Regardless of that very slight irritation, I got to work on the final piece knowing that it should be fairly well received. Unfortunately, this is defiantly a time consuming piece and I'm not even halfway done with the tatting. There were also some suggestions to add a gem or a few, so once I do get the lace done, there will be more playing with chains and beads to get the right mix. There were also suggestions to trade the chain for strands of glass pearls and while it would probably look neat, I have a terrible fear of over-weighting the lace. I know that it's strong, but the more weight it holds, the more likely it is to stretch out of shape or need seriously stiffening to prevent said stretching. I like my lace light and soft. I think it wears better that way and needs far less care.

So today I'll be working on the piece in it's final black shade. There's a good chance I'll get much of it done, but almost no chance that it will make it into the shop quite yet. If by some miracle I do finish it, I still have those cat ears to tat up because I put them aside to work on this. I was also reminded this morning that there is at least one pair of barefoot sandals that I really ought to get remade and back into the shop. I have been really flighty about these things lately and I'm going to chalk it up to being distracted with other 'life' things. I'm made some good progress though and that's a positive, right?

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

As expected, I got nothing tatted yesterday at all. Not a single knot was made. The morning was schooling, the early afternoon was spent at The Hilmar Cheese Factory for a field trip and the evening was a doctor's appointment with my husband. The entire day was eaten away so I have nothing remotely interesting to share with you this morning.

Today I have a pair of cat ears to tat up and then I should get back to the new necklace. Hopefully that means at least I'll have something tatted to photograph for you nice people for tomorrow's post. Until then though I've nothing else, so here's a picture of the footless cat "helping" us do school work a couple of weeks ago. A cute cat picture makes up for a lack of real content right?

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Well I had a pretty productive day yesterday, tatting wise. I finished up all the snowflakes for my mother-in-law. She even popped by in the evening and fetched them, so there is no more pink thread for me to stare at. They were requested as a memorial gift for the daughters of one of her friends that just passed. His favorite color was pink. I personally didn't know him, but it did seem like a nice idea for a keepsake.

Then I got day 8 of the TIAS made up. I have to tell you how funny it is that my oldest daughter has gotten sucked into the 'what is it?' game. She saw me working on it some days back, so I explained the process. Now when she sees the white thread come out she asks if I know what it is yet. I don't and I think it's driving her a little crazy. I think she'll be more relieved that I when the shape becomes obvious.

I even had a little time left in the evening to work on the choker prototype. I got it all the way to it's proposed length and with an adjustable clasp it should be just right to fit anyone. There are a few other things I want to play with on the prototype before I bust out the black thread for the real one, but I'm liking it so far.

I'm not sure what I'll manage to get to today though. We have a field trip right after lunch so I might not get anything at all done. Maybe that's a good thing after yesterday's progress. I could use a bit of a break, but just a tiny one.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Another weekend, another Monday. Oh, so many snowflakes were tatted over the weekend. In fact, that is pretty much all I did besides the normal errand running and adventuring with family. Of course you've seen the snowflakes over and over again, so I didn't bother taking any photos. In fact the only thing I did take a picture of was day 7 of the TIAS. I almost didn't even get around to that either which is why the photo is so dark.

I actually still have two more snowflakes left to make and I'm actually suffering a little soreness in my arms from getting to them so quickly. Though honestly, it's good practice to speed tat every once in a while. You know, just in case I need to again any time soon. Yes, that was wishful thinking.

Other than those snowflakes I have no orders to worry about. So there's a good change I'll get back to the new choker prototype and get that finished up before I forget the neat things I wanted to try out with it. I've no idea if any of them will be 'good' neat things, but I have to try them to find out. So here's to a nice, creative day ahead and a week of, let's go with wonderful. Aim high, right?

Friday, January 24, 2014

Another really long day around these parts. Schooling was followed by copious amounts of tatting. I did keep working on the new prototype for a little while, but I got a sale in the shop, so I set it aside after just two more motifs. Based on preliminary measurements, it should be done with two more I think. Of course now I have other things that need doing before I can get back to it and find out for certain.

I spent much of the rest of the day doing laundry, baking cookies, playing with the kids outside and tatting up the order I got. It really is kind of crazy the amount of multitasking I undertake in a day. Toward the end of the day I got another small custom order in and then a text from my Mother-in-law with more snowflake commissions. I'm afraid it may be some time before I get back to this new choker and get a final piece made up, but I have do have some slightly strange ideas I plan of trying out with it when I do get back to it.

So as you might imagine, today will be finishing one order, tatting up the second and once I have the final details on the snowflake request I'll be off to that task. You know I prefer being busy and I really prefer being busy with things for customers, so I guess it was a pretty good day. Here's hoping the next few days are as well.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

I wish I could tell you that all my pieces sprung from my head fully formed like Athena from Zeus, but the truth is far more mundane. Most of the time they start without any real idea of what I'm doing, nor any end game. Yes, of course sometimes I know I want to make a mask or a bracelet or a pair of barefoot sandals, but most of the time it's just doodling with thread.

Yesterday after schooling that's just what I did, I doodled with thread and this was the first thing off the needle. I wasn't trying to make anything in particular. I just started with a clover and made it up from there. After I shared this one online, there were lots of comments about how it looked upside down. Since I didn't know yet what I was making, I wasn't sure either, so I mucked about with it some more. There were a few more prototypes and several other additional bits that I tried to make match up with the design, but nothing was quite right.

Finally after some more stitch changes I came up with a new and improved version and married it to another one, then another and it is clearly becoming a choker necklace. The only reason it is green is it is the prototype and I'm trying to be more frugal and I have large balls of some threads I rarely use anymore. That way I don't waste my good black thread on mistakes.

I'll try to get the whole prototype made up today to make sure the sizing works and all that. Then if it plays well, it'll be onto the final necklace most likely, in black. I know it's not an amazing breakthrough type of design, but it's something new and at least a little interesting, so I'm pleased and I have something new to do today as well.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

We didn't get the youngest child's new school books until early evening, but it was still a pretty normal school day and that means it was long. We are attempting to get though an entire year worth of curriculum in one semester. It's not going to be all that hard, just a little more time consuming. Also with the warmer than usual weather the kids wanted to go out on a walk in the afternoon. Normally I might protest. given that I have things to do for the shop, but it still hasn't recovered from the holidays yet, I was up for a little exercise. Sales are few and far between and so are my ideas, so perhaps ignoring it a little won't hurt.

I did get some tatting in though. I managed to get day 6 of the TIAS done, though I almost forgot again. Boy, she sure does love the split rings in this design. It's a good thing I guessed that for this second section and started with a ridiculously long tail, just in case.

I also managed to finally get the hearts and clover motif listed as a pendant. I went back and forth about listing the colors separately, but then I opted for a 'choose your color' listing. I figure that way at least I save the 20¢ for listing the other colors. That may not help much, but thinking more frugally is becoming more necessary by the week.

Aside from schooling with actual books today, I don't have any real tasks in queue. There are always a few more pieces I could remake for the shop. I mean, there are still things left unmade from November, but nothing that I really feel 'needs' to be made. I should start letting some creative thoughts flow again, but that's not exactly something that can be controlled. So I guess, I have no idea what I will get up to today, but here's hoping something good and interesting happens.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Yet another morning where I have awakened to find myself tired for no good reason. Sure, yesterday was a long day, but this is silly. I'm fairly certain I slept okay, yet here I am still yawning and rocking the extreme typos as I write. It's like a red, underlined mess over here. Thankfully you'll never see all that and you can just assume that I'm an excellent typist that doesn't rely on spell check at all.

So, anyway, I did finish up tatting custom orders yesterday and remaking one sold piece over the course of the day and in the evening I finished up a second crochet hat. I did not, however, get pictures of anything to share.

The rest of the day was walks with the family, out to lunch, a bad movie with the husband when the children went out with their grandparents followed by take out for dinner with said grandparents and the nieces. Most of that was a fairly last minute adventure and now that i write it all out, I'm kind of surprised that I managed any time for tatting at all. Maybe I should be tired this morning.

Schooling is back today and I should get the youngest child's books and materials in later this afternoon. When they do arrive, that will be a new task all in itself, getting them put away and boxing up the old ones. Hopefully in between, I'll get focused enough to list those darn motifs because aside from a few more pieces to remake, that's all I really ought to get done. That is, until inspiration strikes again.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Friday morning I got very aggressive after schooling, getting all those things done that I had planned on. I got all the new bracelets pressed and finished, ready for photographing when I was called to run an errand for my Mother. Unable to come up with any legitimate excuse to not run to the pharmacy, I was off. leaving all my progress behind. It took a few more hours once I was back, but I did manage to list the red and black bracelets.

It was a good thing that I got them done when I did because it was about then that I got a custom order pair of barefoot sandals. Of course with today being a holiday I had an extra day to make them anyway, but you know I don't like to wait. Of course in this case that proved to be a bit of a mistake. You see I only looked at the order on my phone and didn't look closely enough. I assumed they were to be made in white and about three fourths of the way through the second one, I looked and saw they were to be made in Ivory. I sure am glad I had an extra day now.

The family did a lot of adventuring over the weekend. It may be the middle of January, but it's warm outside and we went on several walks and ran errands. Yesterday morning I was commissioned by my mother-in-law to make a couple more crochet hats as well, so that's what I worked on yesterday evening when all the adventuring was done. Well that and I did manage to remember to do day 5 of the TIAS.

As I mentioned, today is a holiday, so there's no schooling and the husband is home for the day. I do have a couple of pieces I should get remade for the shop and I have one more hat to crochet. Whenever I'm allowed to sit, I'll work on all that. I know I still need to list the single clover motifs as pendants, but I kind of doubt that will come about today. Sometime this week though, I hope. I still haven't completely shaken off that vacation feeling and today is not likely to help at all. Oh well, nothing for it. Off to start the day.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Man, I am tired this morning and there really is no good reason for it. I think I slept well last night. Oh, well, there's nothing for it now. I'm up and the day must begin. So let's see, yesterday...well schooling started back, but the youngest child didn't have her new classes up in the computer yet, so she got a simplistic schooling while her sister got the whole curriculum rained down on her. I was immensely glad that we had not taken a 'real' vacation though. Things flowed so much smoother than they have in the past we we did stop schooling entirely for more than a day.

I wasn't too aggressive in the rest of my day though. I spent most of the morning tatting up a second, longer green bracelet so that I could get it listed. It's up in the shop now available in two lengths. Luckily the motif that makes it is almost exactly one inch, so at least two sizes make sense.

After that was up in the shop I was feeling far too lazy to get up again and get pictures of single motifs as pendants. Hand modeling takes no effort, but necklaces require more prep work. So instead of doing that, I went to work on a second Hearts and Clovers bracelet, this time in red. I asked whether folks wanted pink or red and thankfully red won. I am not really a pink person. I don't have the hardware on this one yet and I'll probably take some time to get a second, longer one made before I list this today too. Then since I'll have to pull out the jewelry tools to do that, I might get the black one listed as well as the pendants I flaked on yesterday.

Of course all those big plans hinge on whether or not I can make it through schooling the kids unscathed today. I just checked and the youngest child's classes are now in the system, so she'll have a full schedule today as well, except since we don't have her new books yet, I'll have to print out pages. I fear it is going to be a long day. Hopefully by Monday I will have accomplished all those things in the last paragraph though. Yeah, that would be good enough.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

I got a little determined yesterday to stay on task and get things done. After our last day of reduced schooling, I got the new woven and beaded bracelet listed. Then I started to contemplate how I was going to turn that little clover into a bracelet. It seemed easy enough, but it took more prototypes than I'm willing to admit to get all the joins just right. The other thing about this sort of design that uses motifs to create, is that it can only work up to certain sizes with very little wiggle room. I have to at least make the first one to fit me as I'm my own model, but I might make one another motif longer before I list it, so there's an option. I made it green after all the St. Patrick's Day talk, but I might do a pink one as well with Valentine's Day in mind.

I didn't stop there though. I thought maybe I could join them in alternating positions for a completely different look. This one I did in black to see if both the color and the position would diminish the holiday clover feel. This one doesn't have it's hardware yet and I added rings at the ends so I could keep it with an odd number of motifs for the pattern. I think it worked the way I wanted it to, but you tell me. Does it still look tied to a holiday?

All this mucking about with clovers took up much of the day that I didn't give over to much needed house cleaning. With 6 cats the dust bunnies appears quickly and gain weight immediately. This of course conflicts with my desire to not to clean unless company is coming over because I also do not was not live in all that ick. I did get the day 4 TIAS made up though. Still not a clue as to what I just made, but I made it and I will see it through to the end.

We're back to real school today and I'm sure I'll use the rest of my time to play with clovers. I'm hoping to at least get the green bracelet and maybe a pendant or two listed. I am toying with the idea of sharing the pattern, but I use such hard to describe techniques, particularly the twisted picot, that I'm not sure how to express it clearly enough. It's not difficult to do of course, I'm just not sure I could properly explain it without video and I do not want to do that. I guess it probably won't be available anytime soon at least. Well, I guess that's it then, back to a nice normal routine.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Tuesday was not as event filled as Monday, but I still managed to do get a few things done. Right after schooling I puttered around for a while and finished up the snowflakes I was working on, then eventually settled in to make the matching bracelet to the woven and beaded necklace. I did not, however, get the hardware on and list it. Sometimes I just save those things for the next day just so that I know I will have something that needs doing.

While I really wasn't feeling particularly inspired, nor motivated, I still couldn't just sit around. I decided to do a little free tatting and see what emerged. After a few failed bits of nonsense, I wound up with this little clover looking bit. It's in pink only because I still had that thread out after the Valentine snowflake project. I mucked about more with it after this trying to see if i could add a proper hanging point, but I hated all the results and opted to leave it as it. I figure a jump ring just goes in one of the existing spaces and and it hangs a little cockeyed.

The obvious response to the piece was St. Patrick's Day clover, but it also has a bit of the heart thing going on as well. In a more neutral color, it just an an interesting shape. I'm thinking I might try to join a few together into a bracelet as well. I figure this is what I'll play with today, my last day of vacation from 'real' schooling. Tomorrow the full school schedule resumes and I probably won't be nearly as bored nor desperate for activities. Which means I will probably start having grand ideas again. I think maybe too much free time is a bad thing for creativity. I've wasted so much time on nonsense this winter. I suppose I needed a bit of a break. I can't be 'on' all the time, but I'll be glad to be back 'on' soon.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Man, did I make yesterday as official a Monday as I could. The kids are still just doing a reduced school schedule, but the oldest had to write an essay so it still took forever. I worked on the most recent commissioned crochet hat while she wrote. It took long enough that I was nearly finished. When she was done, there was laundry and dishes and completing the hat.

The second all that was finished I pulled out the newest necklace piece, got the hardware on it and took some photographs. I've gotten pretty lazy with them as of late, but at least I got them. The necklace got listed finally and I took a few minutes to post it about. I also started thinking about making a matching bracelet in the same pattern, but I still had other tasks in queue for the day, so maybe I'll get round to that today.

After that task was wrapped, I took a few minutes to do the day 3 TIAS that I missed on Sunday. I've no idea what it is, but I never do and I hate guessing. It's just not my strong suite. It does feel good to be caught up though. This tatting was followed by more commissioned tatting. I still had two more Valentine snowflakes that needed making and that was pretty much the rest of my day.

Today I still need to do the finishing work on those snowflakes, but once that's done, I can think on making that matching bracelet. The design really is a pain in the neck with both the slow going lock chains and the weaving ones that need to be worked with cut thread. I do, however, really like the whole look and texture of the piece. It has a weight to it that I just love for some crazy reason. So that's it I think. The cold it still hanging on a bit, but it can't stay too much longer, so I'm also hoping for more outbursts of creativity soon. Here's hoping.

Monday, January 13, 2014

I'd be lying is I said I was all better this morning, but I am certainly much closer to it. I even managed a fairly good nights sleep last night for the first time since I acquired this blasted cold. Of course that doesn't mean I got anything worth note accomplished this weekend though. In fat I even forgot to get Sunday's TIAS section done, but since my lazy self isn't even emailing in my results, I suppose it doesn't matter whether I do it on time or not. I mostly do it for myself as a bit of a distraction from the slow shop anyway.

Speaking of distractions though, I'm back to the bloody crochet hats. Last week when I was babysitting my nieces, my oldest volunteered me to make them hats as well. So after getting some more yarn, I was working on those. Then on Sunday my Mother-in-law commissioned me to make her some Valentine colored snowflakes and crochet yet another hat. So I suppose I am in fact, pretty busy, just not on anything new or interesting that I bothered to take a picture of.

The kids still have three more days of vacation and then it's back to work with them so I'm getting ready to lose the extra free time I was beginning to enjoy. This also means I need to use all the time I do have more wisely. I'll try to get that new necklace I made up last week listed today as well. I no longer feel like I look like I'm carrying the plague, so I should be able to manage a photo or two. Then it's back to the commissioned pieces, the TIAS I forgot yesterday and it's about time to start thinking about taxes as well. Yep, this is going to be an interesting week, probably not good interesting, but still, interesting. Here, have a cat picture because that's all I have to share.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Soon after writing yesterday I decided that the day was going to be a wash. I just had no energy from the lack of sleep and the constant dry cough was putting me in a bad mood as well. I schooled the children and did the day's TIAS piece, but only because I felt like I had to do those things, and laundry. I also did laundry.

Then I thought a bit about getting the new necklace ready to list, but I did not feel like it at all. I did take this picture of me wearing it without any hardware. With a few filters, it's a pretty good picture, but there as no way I was up for any 'real' modeling for the day. There is an ever so slight chance that I'll do it today, but while I got more sleep last night, I still feel like...well, I cant think of a clever simile right now, but I'm sure you understand.

Even when I don't feel well, I still have to busy my hands though. I needed something completely repetitive and mindless, so tatting was right out. So instead I gathered all the leftover yarn from the recent hat making binge and started crocheting motifs. I figured I'd just join them together with any other scraps I could find into a scrap blanket. It kept my hands busy and let my mind stay pretty blank which was perfect. I fear today will meet a similar fate, but maybe over the weekend I'll get he necklace listed, or make something new worth note. It really is just too soon to tell.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

I don't think I got a single continuous hour of sleep last night, coughing and whatnot. If you saw that last sentence before spell check fixed it, you'd have guessed that. I'm typing like a gorilla on an iPhone. Yesterday, however, was just fine. After schooling and cold medicines I immediately got an idea for something new. Nothing too fancy mind you, but I kept seeing this necklace in a commercial and I wanted to make something that felt the same. The start was this little fragment and I think most people thought it was "different", but it wasn't quite there yet.

First thing I decided to change was the split ring base. They can just be so unwieldy as they get longer, so instead I used a lock chain to get to the next ring without adding too much extra bulk. It wasn't as difficult to work with, but it did take much longer than a regular chain would have. I think this is another technique that is far faster with the shuttle, but it looked the way I wanted it to, so that's all that matters.

The next change was to replace the bottom ring on the weaving chain with beads. You know I rarely reach for the beads when working, but it seemed like the right move to give the piece a little, I don't know, sparkle, accent, whatever. It just felt like the right think to add.

Mind you, weaving that bottom chain was much more unwieldy than split rings. I worked with a long cut thread and it tangled half the time while being pulled through to the other side. In fact I ended the piece with literally 2 inches of thread left. I know that pictures aren't great, but I liked the way it turned out and it's something new. Hopefully I'll pull myself together enough today to get proper photographs and list it in the shop. Here's hoping this cold is a short one.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Well, I was unfortunately right about at least one thing yesterday. I did in fact, acquire the husband's cold. I am attempting to zinc it away faster, but it has most certainly settled in for a spell. Only one child remains unaffected, though that could have changed overnight. She didn't really have much chance to avoid it.

After I schooled the children for a while, I did get back to tatting up sold pieces for the shop. In the interest of trying to engage online after becoming a crochet hermit, I posted pictures as well. Sure, you've seen the pieces before, but anything to get people watching and potentially shopping again, right?

I managed to get a choker and a bracelet made up. The second piece was another that I had to make up from photos because I have no prototype to work from and no pattern written down. I know, I know, I really ought to change my behavior on that point. I could say that I'll make an effort, but I am almost surely lying. I do wish I knew how to properly diagram like some other pattern designers. That seems like a great solution for me, but I've really got no clue how they make those perfect little pictures.

I started another crochet hat for myself last night while staying up to watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Yes, I am aware that it's on pretty early. We sleep pretty early, so anything in prime time usually gets recorded for later consumption so we don't nod off at the end. Yes, I am also aware of how sad that sounds. The point is, I'll be finishing up that hat today and then get back to some tatting for the shop. I'm starting to feel just the beginning of creative thought creeping in, so hopefully soon an idea will settle in and something new will emerge.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

I thought I might accomplish some things yesterday, but I did not anticipate my sheer lack of motivation. I mean, sure I managed to school the children for a spell and get day 1 of the TIAS made as well as finish the last crochet hat, but it was all a long slog. I'm also a little afraid that I may have acquired the cold the husband stayed home with yesterday. I'll let you know tomorrow I'm sure.

So here's my day 1 of the Tat It And See. Yes, I am aware that it's odd I chose to make it in white. You see size 20 thread was recommended and this one was on top of the pile in the living room. If I had wanted a different color, I would have had to gotten up and went into another room to dig through the other box of thread. See...lazy. There's every chance that I'll just start over with different thread for the next section because I also think I made have tatted too tightly, but this is it for now.

After that was done I spent far too long finishing the last hat. I thought I'd get creative and try that matching tatted hat idea and then stopped almost immediately. I've tatted hats before both in thread and yarn and what I realized and I started to do it again was that I didn't actually like doing it, particularly with yarn. The tail has to be too long and the lace seriously loses it's grace and delicateness when it's all fat and puffy like that. So yeah, that idea has gone on the junk pile.

I've got no random craft projects left in queue, so I suppose today I ought to get back to tatting things for the shop. Unfortunately that list isn't really that long either, so what I really need is a visit from muses. I figure if I write that enough times, it'll eventually work and I can get back to inspired, feverish creation. Here's hoping.

Monday, January 6, 2014

The first Monday of the year...somehow not inspired. I'm really hoping that it proves me wrong. I just saw the link for day one of the TIAS, so at least I know I'll get that tatted up after the morning routine.

The weekend was all about hats, well mostly anyway. After I wrote that I was in search of a hat pattern, the lovely Fox commented with a pattern link. It was perfect, the right shape and worked up the way I prefer, from the crown down all in a round with no seaming. After schooling was wrapped I went to work and had one done by lunch time. The oldest child made her desire for one known immediately and I started to work on hers with the rest of the yarn in the skein.

This was followed by my Mother-in-law, who was taking the kids out with their cousins, to request one as well as one of the nieces. When they returned back from their adventuring I was done with the second hat and was handed red and turquoise yarn for two more. We had a lovely birthday dinner to attend that evening and some adventuring on Saturday, also with some wonderful folks, but most of Saturday's sitting time was making up those two other hats. I handed them off Sunday morning at the in-laws house and was asked to make two more using up the rest of the yarn for a friend of hers that had cancer.

So as you might have guessed I crocheted another on Sunday, in between playing with the new Nintendo 3DS that the family got me, Apparently I wasn't allowed to be the only one in the family without one. I suppose I would have gotten two done without the gaming, but that's left for today. The shop is quiet, as expected, so anything that keeps me busy and creative is fine with me. So today will have at least a tiny bit of schooling, tatting, crochet and Nintendo. Once the hats are all done, I've also been toying with the idea of a hybrid tatting and crochet hat, not cro-tat, but one then the other. Not sure I'll get around to it quite yet, but it could happen and there are certainly worst ways to spend a Monday.

Friday, January 3, 2014

It was definitely another lazy day around these parts. I have been doing a reduced schooling schedule with the kids mostly because I think their vacation is too long and if we were actually to do no school the kids would never want to go back when it is time. I'm also doing it for me though. That little bit of 'have to' do something keeps me moving and gets me to tatting. Of course it seems to take me twice as long to finish anything lately though.

Yesterday I tatted up a dream catcher pendant for the winner of the Facebook giveaway and then got back to remaking. I'd actually let the cat ear headband sell out and I meant to remake more than one at the same time, but the lazy was strong in me and I just couldn't do it. I only managed to get one pair tatted and put together before I put up the needle for the day. I'm looking forward to Jane's Tat It and See starting next week to give me something else that 'needs' tatting during the day.

After that I used up all the yarn I had left to give each leg warmer three more pattern repeats, so the crochet project is truly done. You'd think I would start to get back into the tatting mindset, but at the end of the evening I was looking for slouchy hat pattern to make up in knit or crochet. I didn't find one I loved, so I might play with my stitch Encyclopedia and make up my own today. I haven't done that in a very long time and I suppose it could be a good way to exercise my creative muscle. I've been letting it get a bit loose around the middle. Okay, that was a weird analogy, sorry. I'll get on with the day and here's to a lovely weekend for all.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Day two of the year and at least one thing is stunningly clear. I will not be attempting any sort of 365 project. Sure, I thought of a few things I could do, but I had so little motivation to start any of them yesterday that the window for a successful project closed right up. It's a good thing really. Instead maybe I'll modify one of the ideas to be born later as a less than rigidly timed project. It's always so easy to think big on New Year's Day.

I did, however, manage to get back to tatting once a bit of schooling had been accomplished. I had gotten a couple of orders that contained the only tatted keys I have on hand. I knew that if I didn't at least remake one before I shipped them away this morning I'd be back in the same, awkwardly making from a photo drama, that I was in the other day. So I made the keys. Then after they were done I made a few more small pieces. I still have some bigger ones in the queue, but it felt like a pretty good start to the day.

The rest of the day was finishing the crochet legwarmers, though I think I might make them a tad longer, going on a couple of family walks to break up the Twilight Zone marathon and generally sitting about. It was as close to routine as I expect a holiday to get.

Though there was still an ant incursion and a few other minor annoyances, it was definitely better than the last day of the year and included an early morning sale in the shop, so I'm going to go ahead and take that as a sign of things to come and then work really hard at making that happen. Today will be more remaking for the shop and perhaps that last bit of crochet I mentioned. By next week I should be fiending for some design time and the year will really start rolling by.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Happy New Year all! We've mostly survived another trip around the sun and since we don't stop moving, here's to surviving the next one. No, I didn't do anything last night. I don't even bother staying up anymore. The new year was still here when I woke up and I get to start it well rested.

Yesterday started out terribly. Right after I wrote in the morning, I tried to pay bills, but I couldn't because the bank site was down. Then when I got out of the shower, I was greeted in my closet by a fierce invasion of ants that needed destroying. Apparently, I really was going to end the year on a down note.

I didn't let it stay down too long though. I schooled the kids for a while and then I did remake one piece for the shop. Of course it was one that I didn't have a pattern written down for and I really should have made it while I still had the piece on hand because working from pictures can be difficult business. Once I finished this pendant I was so done with tatting for the day.

I spent much of the remainder of the day running a small giveaway on Facebook, because nice comments make me feel better, and crocheting while watching the Doctor Who marathon on television. I really want to finish this crochet project so I have a feeling today will be similar, except the marathon is The Twilight Zone and the husband is home as well.

I haven't really thought on any big plans for the year ahead, though I am contemplating a 365 project of some sort. I really haven't a clue what and I only have today to come up with an idea or it's moot. Other than that I guess the year is up for grabs. Hopefully the muses are kind to me along with the retail gods, because I definitely need a better year. Here's to you all getting what you need in this new year as well!